Road rail



W; Q NEYS Dec. 11, 1934. w. M. VENABLE ROAD RAIL 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledAug. 8, 1952 Dec. 11, 1934.

W. M. VENABLE ROAD RAIL Filed Aug. 8, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII/IIIIIIIIIII] I Patented Dec. 11, 1934 UNITED STATESROAD RAIL

William Mayo Venable, Pittsburgh, Pa., assignor to Blaw-Knox Company,Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of New Jersey Application August 8, 1932,Serial No. 627,863

1 Claim.

This invention relates to road rails or forms and particularly to thattype of rail which is adapted for convenient and ready positioning andalignment with others, as well as for removal from place to place alongthe bed of a road which is under construction.

Rails of the character referred to, in addition to serving as a mouldfor concrete of which the road is made, also serve as trackways, guidesand the'like for road building and finishing machinery. In view of theseuses and purposes, the rails must not'only be of relatively greatstrength, rigidity and the like, but must further be arranged so as topermit ready removal from place to place as the building operationprogresses.

In order to support and position the rails at the edges of the roadunder construction, it has been customary to employ metallic stakeswhich are driven into the ground, as by means of a sledge, after whichthe rails are secured to the stakes in order to maintain their properpositions .and alignment-particularly laterally or in a directioncrosswise of the road bed.

One of the primary objects of the present invention is involved in theprovision of adjustable means for securing the rails to the positioningstakes. The importance of this adjustable feature will be more apparentwhen it is considered that, as a practical matter, it is virtuallyimpossible to accurately drive the stakes along the edge of the roadway.While the points of the stakes may be properly positioned when they arestarted into the ground, the party driving the stakes may not havesuflicient skill to ensure accurate positioning and alignment when thestakes are driven home. Still further, the stakes very frequentlyencounter stones or other obstructions which cause some deflection whilethey are being driven into the ground.

With the foregoing in mind,- the present invention provides foradjustment of the railwith respect to the stakes and for rigidattachment or securing of the rail to the stakes even though the latterare somewhat out of alignment. It should be noted in this connectionthat sincethe frails must be capable of receiving very substantialloads, including spreading action, without material deflection orshifting, provision must be made for very rigid attachment of the railsto the stakes, and the present invention accomplishes this purpose andat the same time provides for adjustment of the rails with respect tothe stakes. The specific manner in' which this Figure 2 Figure "1;

is accomplished will be more apparent from the following description.

Another object of the invention relates to arrangement of the partsemployed to secure the rails to the stakes in such manner as to avoiddanger of injury thereto during driving of the stakes, it being notedthat the rails are ordinarily placed in approximate alignment before thestakes are driven. 'Still further, this invention contemplates "wedgedevices which serve not only as the adjustable elements for accuratelyaligning the rails, but also as the'means by which the rails are rigidlysecured to the stakes.

In addition to all the foregoing, the structure of the present inventionis extremely rigid and yet simplified as to form and number of partsemployed. I

Other objects and advantages, as well as those hereinbefore referred to,will appear to better advantage after consideration of the followingdescription making reference to the accompanying drawings, in which-Figure 1 is'a' rear elevational view of a road rail constructed inaccordance with this inventiom. I

. 25 is a top plan viewof the rail shown in Figure 3 is'a considerablyenlarged rear elevational view of a device for securing the rail to astake;

Figure 4 is a transverse sectional view taken substantially on the line4-4 of Figure 3; and

Figures 5, 6 and '7 are horizontal sectional views taken substantiallyalong the line xa: of Figure 3, but showing the wedge devices which Iemploy in different positions.

Referring first to Figures 1 and 2, the reference numeral 8 designatesthe base portion of the rail and 9 indicates the web or upstanding partat the top of which a flange 10 is provided, having "a downturnedouterlip 11 (see Figures 3 and 4).

The rail is equipped with a plurality of devices A each arranged toprovide attachment of the rail to a stake B. While the drawings indicatea rail equipped with three such devices, it will be apparent that anydesirable number may be employed depending, for example, on the lengthof the rail. One end of the rail may'also be provided with a device Cslidable generally longitudinally of the rail to provide for engagementand align- 'ment'with an adjoining rail. 'At the opposite end therailmay be equipped with a guide D adapted to receive the slidable aligningdevice C of the rail adjoining at that end.

Referring now to Figures 3 to 7 inclusive, it

will be seen that each stake-engaging device A includes a stakeembracing member or pocket which is generally U-shaped having a base 12and side portions 13. At the bottom, the side portions 13 are providedwith flanges 14 rigidly secured as by welding and/or rivets 15 to thebase 8 of the rail. At their upper ends, the side portions or webs f3are providedwitlt outwardly extending wings 16- similarly secured to thedownturned lip or flange 11 of the rail as by rivets 1' 7.

The webs 13, therefore, serve to rigidly brace the upper and lowerportions of the rail in addition to their function now to be describedin connection with securing the rail to the stakes B.

As best seen in Figures 4 to"7"inclusiva'theb'ottom flange or base 8 ofthe rail is provided with an elongated aperture 18 through/which thestake B is driven into the ground. In the preferred arrangement, thelength of the aperture is equal to several times-thediameter of thestakeand the width is also preferably materially greater than the stakediameterr For the purpose of receiving andsuppor-ting wedge means, thewebs 13 are apertured as indicated at 19 and 20', and wedges 21 and 22vare'extended' generally horizontally through these apertures, one ateach side of the stake B. As seen in. Figures 5, 6- and 7, I prefer toemploy counterpart elements as the wedges 21 and 22, although their wideand. narrow portions are extended in opposite directions. The wide endof each wedge 'is preferably made suliiciently large to preventdisplacement thereof through the receiving apertures in webs 13 and, inorder to prevent displacement in the other di": rection, I preferablyattach a nut and bolt, or other projection, 23 to its small end. While Iprefer the means just referred to for the purpose of preventingdisplacement or loss of the wedges, it will readily be apparent that, ifdesired, only a single aperture. may be provided to receiveboth wedges,and the wedges may then be made of greater thickness toward both ends soas toprevent displacement thereof in either direction.

Another point to be observed in connection with the structure itselfv isthe fact that the webs 13 are cut away at the top very materially towardtheir outer ends, as clearly seen in: Figure 4, in order to avoid asmuchas possible the danger of damage as a result of careless use of asledge'on the stakes when they are being driven home. The angle at whichthe upper edges of, the webs 13 are formed also serves to deflect thesledge in the event that it slips off the headof a stake, or misses thehead entirely, withv the result that there is very little danger thatthe webs 13 will receive a direct blow of sufficient force to damage theparts. I

As clearly illustrated in Figures 1, 3 and 4, the wedges are positionedvery close to the base or bottom flange 8 of the rail and thisis ofespecial advantage with a securing arrangementemploying only two wedgeslying a common. plane at oppositesides of the stake, for the reason thatit provides for engagement. with; the stake at a point relatively closetothe bottom of the rail. Whenv the rails are properly bedded,-therefore, an extremely rigid arrangement is provided since the wedgesengage the stake very close to-the bedding on which the rail rests.

In order still more clearly to bring out certain advantages abovereferred toand also to clarify the mode or manner of use of railsconstructed in accordance with this invention, reference should be madeto the following comments with respect to the preferable operation:-

in Figure 7.

With rail structures at present in commercial use it is very diflicult,if not impossible, to adjust the rails for purposes of alignment afterthe stakes have been driven. As a result, difiiculties have frequentlybeen encountered in running the road building and finishing machinery onthe rails and in providing uniform edges at the sides of the road.Furthermore, it has beenvery dinicult to utilize rails which havebeenset" accurately to line for the finished road edge to support machineryfor forming or smoothing out the bed, known as the sub-grade, on whichthe concrete is to be laid, without displacing some of the stakesso asto require realignment before the concrete is placed.

In accordance with this invention, however, the rails may be employedsubstantially in the following manner: firstly, they may be laid oneafter another in approximate alignment, suitably bedded under their baseplates, and their respective positioning stakes driven into the ground.Adjustments may now be made by means of'the wedges 21 and 22' so as tocompensate for any irregularity of alignment from stake to stake. Themanner of adjustment may readily be understood from. inspection ofFigures 5,, 6 and "7'. In Figures and 6 I have illustrated a stake ashaving been driven approximately centrally through the aperture 18 inthe base plate of'a rail. The rail may be attached to this stake bydisplacing one wedge, for example, wedge 21, to the right (as viewed inFigure 5') until the angled surface 21a contact'switli the stake B.Wedge 22' may then be moved toward the left and its angled surface 22atightened against the stake as by means of, a hammer or sledge, and therail is thus securely and rigidly fastened to the stake. The Wedges 21and 22 are illustrated in tightened position in Figure 6 and from thisfigure, as well as Figure 5, it will be seen that the wedge surfaces 21aand 22a are substantially in parallelism so that they engage the stake Bat substantially diametrically opposite points.

Assume now that astake has been deflected while being driven into theground and its position, somewhat offset or out of line, as suggested Inthis case, the wedge 21 is moved to the right only a short distanceuntil its angled surface 21a contacts with the stake, while wedge 22-moves considerably farther in order to bring its surface 22a intocontact with the opposite side of. the stake. However, the same veryrigid engagement of the wedges and stake may be had in this positionand, from the foregoing, it should be apparent that the arrangementprovided will compensate for all normal inaccuracies in driving thestakes.

After a series of rails have been laid in accordance with the foregoing,they maybe employed as trackways for moving machinery, for example,

for smoothing the bed.- of the roadway. If any makes possible much moresecure and rigid wedging action without danger of bending the stakes,

but at the same time permits some shifting and tilting of the railinwardly or outwardly with respect to the stake. In this way, in theevent that a stake is driven into the ground at a slight angle, thisangularity may readily be compensated for and will not result in similarand undesirable mis-alignment and tilting of the rail itself.

Thus, by the use of a pair of wedges arranged in the manner abovedescribed, the attaching devices are materially simplified and. at thesame time, while maintaining rigidity, considerable flexibility is alsoafforded so as to compensate for improper angling or mis-alignment ofthe stakes along the edge of the road. Other parts of the stake-engagingdevices are also very sturdy and yet comparatively easily fabricated.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that the present invention providesa road rail or form of materially improved characteristics, particularlywith respect to flexibility of adjustment while retaining maximumrigidity when the stake-engaging wedges are driven home.

I claim:-

,Road rail equipment including a rail having a base flange adapted to bebedded at a side of a roadway to provide the principal vertical supportfor the rail, said rail further having a head part adapted to supportroad construction machinery, and means for securing the rail in itsbedded position as against transverse displacement including a stake, apair of plates secured to the rail and extending rearwardly therefrom,the plates being spaced to embrace a stake and further being apcrturedto pass wedges, one in front of and one in back of the stake, and a pairof wedges constituting the sole means of attachment of the rail to thestake, said wedges projecting through the apertures in the plates andbeing located in a common horizontal plane close to the base flange soas to connect the rail to the stake with freedom for relative tilting orangular deflection about the point of engagement of the wedges on thestake, whereby, when construction machinery is being carried, theconsequent deflection of the rail is accommodated without tilting orloosening the stake.

WILLIAM MAYO VENABLE.

